Boonen Tour start unlikely

The Tribunal de Grande Istance in Nanterre, France has declared that the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to decide whether or not Tom Boonen can ride in the Tour de France.

What this means is that Boonen and his Quick-Step team only have one day to get the situation resolved since the roster must report to the race on Thursday.

Their only chance at getting their newly crowned Belgian road champion in the race is to lodge an arbitration request with the Chambre Arbitrale Francaise du Sport (Cas) to permit Tom Boonen to take the start in the Grand Boucle.

Now the chances for Boonen entering the battle for the green jersey look slim after the court took two days to contemplate it's jurisdiction.